The Blessing Named Myrtle

 

"Let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken to maturity . . . God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Hebrews 6:1a, 10-12 NIV

When I met Myrtle she was well into her late 70s or early 80s. She reminded me of my grandmother because she had strong hands and a beautiful smile. We had just been assigned as pastors to her church and Myrtle wanted to do everything she could to help us.

I asked Myrtle to sing in our new worship choir and she did reluctantly. She served on the Church Council with even more reluctance, unsure that her earthly knowledge could add even the smallest wisdom to church decisions. She was convinced that her days of teaching or leading were far behind her. But when we set a day to tackle cleaning the church kitchen (which hadn’t been cleaned in years), she was the first to arrive and dig into the chore. Her arms were elbow deep in hot, soapy water, washing every pot, pan, dish, and glass. (And no, we didn’t have an automatic dishwasher in the church). She stood on a step stool, reaching high into the backs of cabinets, scrubbing each one spotless. She was a dynamo for this task that would, for many purposes, remain invisible to those who weren’t there. But she was determined to serve the Lord in the ways she was confident she would be successful.

And she loved. She loved us as her pastors. She loved those around her. She loved everyone she met. When, for reasons quite beyond her control, we had to resign the church she wrote a long letter, apologizing that she hadn’t prayed enough, hadn’t supported us enough, hadn’t been there enough. She wanted, more than anything, to be diligent to the very end to serve the Lord and her brothers and sisters in Christ.

Her memory is always an example to me and I think about her often.

Maturity in the Lord will frequently take us into invisible tasks. "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:2-4).

Maturity in the Lord moves service into the "invisible" realm. No longer should we be concerned with what others see or acknowledge, but rather we love God and love others so much that we simply serve beyond what we feel is possible so that we may pour out ourselves in His service. We should never stop, never become lazy, but rather continue to look for more and more ways to love God and to love those around us, imitating those who have gone on before, so that we might inherit what has been promised.

We need to be like Myrtle.

© 2017 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.